Camelot_2000

I watched this classic film tonight from eons ago and was entertained just like I was in childhood when I viewed it back then. It reminded me of how it was "relative" to what a kid goes through when they're adjusting to the ways of life and constantly curious about the world. Growing up in a small Northern town and later in Calgary, made me see how kids were in a different world compared to adults.

There was the bullies in elementary school, the assaults in the playground and the "gang wars" that erupted every now and then. Back then, there was no worry about charges for assault. We were too young for that.

Adults were also depicted in these Peanuts cartoons as alienated with a garble in how they talked towards the kids. Clearly showing the dividing line between them.

Yeah, there was another world kids were in compared to the older folks and there was a lot of adventure to be had in that. This movie accurately portrays that.

Charlie Brown and the gang compete in a raft race against a team of malicious bullies with a vicious cat who has a spiked collar and sharp fangs. Every dirty trick was played in the race to deter the good kids from winning.

Let's see, there are deflated rubber rafts, snow in the summer and wicked rapids to overcome in order to win the race. It doesn't help matters either when the bad kids are constantly ahead and change the direction of the signs to direct the good kids to the hazardous areas.

It reminded me of my times as a kid whenever the gang of bullies raided the playground. They'd chase us around and beat us up if they caught us. That was unforgettable.

Yeah, we were in our own world back then and it sometimes felt like a dangerous war zone. This Peanuts movie accurately captured that and it sure captures what kids go through. It wasn't easy, but still there was a strong feeling of adventure throughout it all, like a knight declaring war on a neighboring Kingdom.

Who hasn't heard of Huckleberry Finn and his barefoot adventures on a raft down the river? There have been a multitude of movie versions about him as well as a TV series at one point and it seems that the constant depictions of him throughout the decades rival those of Ebenezer Scrooge.

It's a tiring tale from the Ol' South which propelled me to look further back to see how the earliest depictions were. I watched this flick tonight and as primitive and dated as it was, I found a certain charm towards the whole thing.

The title character was played by Junior Durkin and he was indeed the true star of this ancient flick, but he never received top billing. That honor went to Jackie Coogan who was a major star back then which wouldn't have made it acceptable if he had been placed into a secondary role with a limited screen appearance.

No, he was thrown right in there as a major showcase even though it showed that he wasn't really necessary. Huck & Jim could've pretty well carried the whole flick themselves.

The homeless and uneducated Huck is thrust into the care of the dear Widow Douglas and her uptight sister and adapting to being clean and civilized doesn't suit him too well. He constantly craves to escape all that and head on "down the river" but the kindness and compassion showed towards him by the Widow Douglas causes him to continue tolerating it. He evidently liked and cared about her too and it showed.

Well, Huck's alcoholic and arrogant father enters the picture and he wants to cash in on the situation his son was now in. He even forcibly kidnaps the boy and makes him prisoner in an old shack.

Well, Tom Sawyer and Jim come to the rescue and they all ultimately end up rafting down the river to escape everything and to fall into the pretend world of being "pirates". It's quite noticeable too how Jim was depicted as a subservient African American man who's only purpose was to try and always please the "white folks". A racist depiction from that long ago era.

There are "villains" who enter the story and who pretend to be "nobles" to fool the boys and Jim into catering to them and making sure they got the VIP treatment. It's a ruse that caused the boys to feel obligated in making sure that royalty were fed so they head out to score food in one town.

I did enjoy this antique version of Mark Twain's famous iconic character, but felt that Junior Durkin should've been given the star billing he deserved in this film. He gave a great performance and clearly showed the talented qualities he had for being an actor.

Jackie Coogan just seemed to be "in the way" of it all, most especially when it was obvious the story was focused on Huck and not Tom Sawyer. That was one of the major peeves.

Yeah, Trent Junior Durkin was a rising star back then who had his chance to shine in the early 1930s. But whose life was tragically cut short in a car accident in 1935. What would his Hollywood have been like if he lived to an old age? Well, chances are he might've hit legendary status along with such classic icons as Mickey Rooney. Then again, when he got older and was no longer a fresh face in Hollywood, he might've hit a decline in his career.

He might've been reduced to minor roles in films and would 've later surfaced as a guest star on "The Love Boat" in the 1970s and later on "Fantasy Island". Who knows what could've been, but from what I saw in this film tonight, he was indeed a very talented young man. The potential was there, but sadly, he didn't have the chance to fulfill that due to his early death.

I admit I enjoyed "Creepshow" from 1982 and this sequel still holds the comic book qualities of that, but isn't up to par with the original. There's only 3 stories here instead of 5 like its predecessor and those three stories prove to be a little overlong. The animated sequences in between them though are excellent.

The first creepy tale, "Old Chief Wood'nhead" was alright with great performances by George Kennedy and the legendary Dorothy Lamour. They play an elderly couple who run a general store in a small derelict of a town that is practically deserted due to bad economic conditions.

They're definitely worried about the future of their beloved establishment due to the lack of money flowing in. It didn't help matters either when they constantly offered "credit" to the residents of a nearby Indigenous reservation who suffered from the lack of money too.

The Chief of the reserve eventually goes there to compensate for the bills his people owed, offering the couple priceless native jewelry. Those artifacts were held sacred to his people who held strong spiritually significance towards it.

The Chief said that the couple could have total possession of the jewelry if his reserve's bill wasn't paid within "two autumns". A very touching story, but then the dark side occurs when an arrogant native guy along with two other hoodlums rob the store.

They harass the couple mercilessly with the native guy looking egotistically in the mirror at one point, saying he planned on becoming a movie star with his ravishing long black hair.

There's also a wooden statue of a native chief that was displayed outside the front of the store and was held in high regard by the store owner. It had been there for 30 years and he had been in the middle of applying fresh paint to it before the robbery had occurred.

This Old Chief Wood'nhead ended up carrying more potential than being a simple store display. There was more to him than meets the eye.

I thought the best story out of this movie was "The Raft" where two couples head to a secluded lake and swim to a raft that's anchored in the middle of it. They're having a great time at first, but then get disturbed by a dark blob that's floating around in the water nearby. They also mistake it for some type of oil slick.

I thought the guy wearing the yellow swimming trucks and the big silver ring on his finger, was mega-hot. He also had to act really arrogant and conceited though.

I found the final story to be the weakest part of the whole film. A woman has a sex session with a high priced hustler and then drives home to her husband in the middle of the night. She ends up losing control of her car and hits a black guy that mysteriously appeared on the side of the highway. She's traumatized by the accident, but doesn't take responsibility for it, she drives off instead in a case of "hit and run".

It's easy to predict what'll happen next, as she tries to maintain control of her driving skills, she's haunted and tormented by what she's done. That had a strong similarity to an old episode of "The Twilight Zone".

I've seen this old film off and on throughout the years and I still find it entertaining, though to a certain extent. It just doesn't deliver the same impact as the original had.